"According to some who know the radio tower business, it seems unlikely he was doing that kind of work."
What do they base that opinion on? I know someone who was also a contractor in Iraq last year, who hired Berg to do this sort of work. There was a big push last year to get Iraq's communication system up and running again.
Contractors in Iraq make very good money - I don't think the $70,000 figure is that unusual.
I know a little about the radio tower business. I know that you don't go to a foreign country on your own (by yourself without a full support staff) and try to get business building radio towers in a war torn foreign country.You would have to have connections on the ground, you would have to know the local people. You would have to know where to get materials and experienced laborers. Building a radio tower requires the use of heavy equipment and cranes and people who are not afraid of heights and are trained in this most dangerous business. You don't get that by calling up people in the white pages in Baghdad, especially when there are very few phones to begin with.
All I can say is that if Mr. Berg were in Iraq by himself, then he was most likely not freelancing to try to land contracts to build radio towers. IMO, that would have had to have been a front for some other activities.
Certainly there are a lot of freelancers in Iraq. But they do not operate by themselves. They operate in teams. Big teams. Complete with security guards and local connections. Berg didn't appear to have any of that. I'm not even sure he spoke the local language. Who was he trying to get these contracts with? Inquiring minds want to know.
469 posted on 05/13/2004 6:20:27 PM CDT by P-Marlowe (Free the GRPL3)
This is what I was based my comments on.